Bengal to give licences for distilleries, bottling plants

As part of its efforts at creating more jobs, the West Bengal government has decided to sanction licenses for setting up new distilleries and bottling plants, a minister said Tuesday.

The new plants and distilleries would help in ensuring an adequate supply of liquor and prevent sale of illicit liquor in the state, Finance and Excise Minister Amit Mitra told the assembly in response to a query from Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra.

Since coming to power in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee government has not given licences for setting up any new "On" and "Off" shops selling foreign liquor.

The state now had 1.783 shops selling country liquor, of which seven were sanctioned during the present regime.

There are 2,136 foreign liquor shops which are still operating in the state, Mitra said.